Single Question Results  

Results for Survey: ANREP/NACDEP Joint Conference, June 26-29, Burlington, VT

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Please give ideas as to how the conference could have been improved, especially if you rated the conference "poor" or "average".
(Text Answer)


 Responses
  Presentations were full of out dated and hyperbolic tropes with little academic basis for any of it. Incredibly anti-intellectual all the way around. Plenary talks were specifically terrible for this reason aside from the concurrent sessions I attended. Facility was terrible...I pity anyone with mobility issues at this conference. Way finding was also terribly difficult.  
  More coffee, tea, and snacks at breaks; more water availability-often I could not find water to drink; more food stations at all meals-especially receptions and lunch; food quality was moderate to low. Also, food supplies were low many times. Food quantity and quality, though a major expense, is something people remember about a meeting and I think something to invest more resources in. Meeting location was great (hotel and city). The Urban Forestry tour was excellent.  
  I think a printed program would have been nice. It was hard to go back and forth on the app at times. I also think a few minutes between presentations to get of room to room would have been appropriate, I hated leaving early at the q&a and getting to the next session late.  
  -printed agendas -expensive for what we received -location difficult to get to and hotel seemed underprepared -lack of food/snacks/cokes/coffee -topics covered were not very diverse -Overall organization of conference could be improved  
  The hotel layout, with meeting rooms spread apart quite far, made it a challenge to move from one session to another easily. Although I understand the need to limit the expense of coffee breaks, having the exact same breakfast offering each morning was simply poor decision-making. At least one breakfast could have featured a hot breakfast.  
  Excellent conference. I learned a great deal. Thank you for all the work that went into it. Please see my comments about the hotel under #53  
  The online schedule was a great idea but poorly executed. A better organized online schedule in addition to large posters with schedule info/a hotel map would have made navigation much easier.  
  My complaints are minor. 1. Please put institutions on the nametags. 2. Please make the keynote and ignite presenter and abstract information available on the mobile app.  
  better control over field trips. We stood out in the sun for a long time, next to a busy highway, to listen to people who could have talked to us anywhere. I couldn't hear it anyway, because i was in the back of the group, and the traffic was noisy. That was unpleasant and unnecessary, and the low point of an otherwise very useful field trip.  
  Thanks to the planning committee for working so hard to provide us this opportunity to network, visit, and learn. It was a nice conf. Some of the logistical issues (no coffee, scattered rooms, small rooms, long lines,no folders,...) were distracting but no huge barriers. What was missing; however, was a greater emphasis on science. There was no session focused on fundamental and science. A few presentation had some basic science (such as brain chemistry and trust) but otherwise there was a big lack of fundamental science. Presenters generally did not have the science background of what they were presenting.  
  Conference is very expensive. Please include a student rate for future conferences!  
  The reason I came was to present my research and hopefully connect with others through this research. The was the posters were done, put in the back of the room like that, made them seem like an unimportant afterthought. If the organizers of this conference wanted these posters to be any kind of priority, they would have done a better job of organizing the poster session. I was very disappointed in this aspect of the conference.  
  Pre-approved Continuing Education credit for my professional organization would have been a nice benefit. i.e. Society of American Foresters CF credit  
  Recommend reading the names of award winners for off years, e.g. for the 2015 winners have their names read and ask to stand up individually. will not take that much time, but it is important (to recipients, colleagues and family members) to have award winners recognized at ANREP conference.  
  name tags could have had the person's name and association AND STATE rooms without windows are highly undesirable not enough time to network with others I was not enthralled with the online schedule, but it did work, mostly  
  Coffee and tea. (You knew that would be said.) Paper agendas. (I really liked your on-line ability to print out my agenda, showing just what items I had selected.) Too many presenters did not know to make the fonts large enough so they could be read. One decided she did not need the mic (she did) and her 12 point font on the PowerPoint (yes, really, 12 point font) could not be read. Could not read or hear that presentation. We know adult education means oral (speaker), visual (PowerPoint), reading (handouts), and experiential (activities). My University expects our programs to have each of these elements. Not having the handouts saves money, but has us setting a poor example in practicing adult education techniques. Not good. Ignite presentations: Put up the PowerPoint showing the text and email to vote. But they went to the next slide before people could open their phone/boot their tablet to get it entered, even with people in the audience saying "wait." Then at the end the slide only had the text information. So people at my table could not/did not vote.  
  Make sure the hotel has the billing information for attendees so they are not billed (twice) after the hotel room has already been paid for by our organization. Make the conference more focused on natural resource stewardship programs. Make coffee available to guests.  
  More presentations with specific DETAILS about HOW the projects were accomplished. More presentations that teach and provide templates that communities can take back with them that are SPECIFIC. for example, as extension agents we all understand that community art and gardens and evaluating programs are important, we would like to learn exactly HOW other programs have been successful. What challenges were faced and how were they overcome? The hotel itself was the worst hotel experience I have ever had. The layout was terrible for a conference and so was the service. The sessions were poorly spaced with zero time to get from one room to another. There should have been an App for Sched not just a link. A paper hand out of the schedule would have been more helpful. The tour I went on felt unorganized, as if the businesses we toured had no idea we were arriving that day.  
  For $450, I would hope to get coffee during the day, not just at meals. The concurrent sessions were logistically challenging -- hard to get from one to the other, hard to find, not well differentiated in the App.  
  The hotel set up was not good at all. Felt like trying to work my way out of a Vegas casino! Coffee?? Felt the food could have been better; breakfast was lacking. Please...if you are going to use the sched app moving forward; at least give people the opportunity to print out their own WORD documents so we could have it available!!!! While I appreciate the use of technology; that particular one sucks!!  
  Much too long Most people had far too much information in their presentations to communicate effectively in 30 minutes. Limit slides and provide advice on FEWER words (good presentation techniques were NOT on display at this conference - yikes)  
  More time between sessions  
  Lower the cost, bring in a nationally recognized plenary speaker, not a locally recognized one - not relevant or particularly insightful nationwide. Plenary speakers were not inspiring and did not push the boundaries of our fields, which is what you want in a plenary speaker. Concurrent sessions were a mess with one starting at the same time the next ended, leaving no time to get to a different session or connect with a colleague from that session. I don't like to complain about conference food, but considering the total price the breakfast was an abysmal start to each day. The content of a lot of my sessions were typically uninspiring/not innovative and either 1) far to specific to a local project or program w/ no clear takeaways or key concepts 2) too broad with over-use of jargon and irrelevant data. Need better and more engaging speakers. Death by PowerPoint, as they say. There were 2 speakers that energized us with the Ignite sessions, the rest of the Ignite speakers completely missed the point. The attempt to combine the two disciples did not seem authentic or intentional on the parts of the organizers. Why separate business meetings during an important networking time (lunch)? Why no breaks or attempts to encourage sessions that push the envelope in thinking in our fields?  
  The session descriptions were not available until the start of the conference. The workshop titles were available, but only shortly before the conference. I was told I had to go to this conference and had no idea what it was about until I showed up. Workshop descriptions need to be available at least 2 weeks in advance, especially since there were no hard copies of the schedule. I don't have a smart device and it was difficult to navigate to sessions since there was no opportunity beforehand to print the schedule and decide which sessions to attend. Also coffee should be provided at least for the morning sessions. I recognize that must have been an additional cost, but one that I'm sure folks would rather have than to go without it.  
  the amount of information was overwhelming;  
  Maze of a conference space. Need more maps. Need more time between sessions. Need fewer sessions. Need longer sessions. Need more in the field work. Need to involve actual practicum---hands-on workshops. Need more time to hang out with colleagues outside of the conference. Why do you have a karaoke event----seems uncreative and totally not up any of my colleague's favorate things to do... More like last thing we'd do. Need more coffee. Need more meals on our own to explore. Need more tours.  
  The conference was well run/organized. Burlington VT was a Great Location. Location is a top consideration for me when choosing professional development conferences. Naples, Park City, Fairbanks, Sacramento and Burlington have been fantastic. Wheeling West Virginia...not so much.  
  The timing of the concurrent sessions made it very difficult to move to the topics I wanted to attend. I missed several because I couldn't get out of one, and to the next without any break. I would like longer sessions, I know this is not the only conference that has 30-minute presentations, but I like opportunities to learn more and have discussions and questions and feedback from the audience about what they know or do related to the topic. Presenters mostly seem rushed.  
  1. Information on emerging issues in CD 2. Awards done together which focus on project willing not who wins so we can learn from the project. 3. Regional activity that is not a meeting 4. Names of states on the nametags 5. A break in the first day - too many sessions 6. Too heavy use of initials, abbreviations etc. not everyone knows this and it makes one feel left out.  
  No joint conference. Less expensive venue.  
  Keep associations separate. Better catering--the reception setup was terrible--I spent one entire reception waiting in a painfully slow line for the food because the hotel does not know how to move a line through, and by the time I got to the front we got called in for the awards. The evening farm to table banquet only had enough seats for half the attendees. I don't like to eat standing up. And they kept running out of things, like plates. And the "breakfast" was lame.  
  1) Include the home state of the participant on the name tag. 2) Briefly state the public transportation opportunities (I.e. the bus stop just outside the hotel going downtown every xx minutes, cost...)  
  Rooms closer together More IT help with the schedule online. Many people finally understood how to work the schedule and updates at the Ignite session at the end. Move the directions to the beginning. More posters I attended the Go With the Flow mobile workshop. There were only two stormwater abatement projects viewed. Make sure the subjects are worth taking the time to look at.  
  Food was poor. Needed variety in breakfast. Receptions should not have been in hallway, that was too congested to network well. No need to judge posters. We dont present to "win" or even be judged. The schedule was confusing. No printed program is fine, but give us a print version to at least read. The clicking was annoying and how the sets of 3 workshops were broken up was confusing. I really like 90 minutes, but they all need to be at the same time to keep people form coming and going.  
  terrible conference physical layout extremely costly (dollars and time) to reach from the west coast and not enough of 'location value' to justify the cost. the concurrent session idea did not work out well with trying to attend single talks - which may not have been you intent but the online app did not link 3 talks into 1 session (like the paper copy) and I only used the online app, so was completely caught off guard by the lack of time to move between talks let alone the extreme distances needed to cover  
  cost seemed high, rooms were a long distance apart and sometimes small, improve general speakers so they are more motivational. The awards part seemed very low-key. Was nice to do with the meal at prior conferences Paper schedules requested. It would only need to be the general schedule and break-outs. Front - back? Vary the breakfasts.  
  You haven't asked about problems, but I think people need a paper program. The sched encourages people to use their phone, which means they do email instead of listening and engaging. And there was no way to give sponsors airtime. The rolling ppt should have been stopped when plenaries started, and could have advertised sponsors. These are not fatal flaws... just suggestions for next time!  
  Integrate the local arts into the conference during breaks, breakfasts, and awards ceremonies. It will give us a better understanding about the sense of place.  
  Hard to get across the hotel area and navigate as bounced from session to session  
  Hotel layout was a challenge.Should have state identified on badges.  
  I actually enjoy smaller, more targeted conferences. .  
  States of origin on name card. Maybe more explicit attention to the ways ANREP/NACDEP agendas do/don't overlap  
  With 11 concurrent sessions, a team is needed to tackle the best way to group and offer so many sessions. It's a hard job but probably the most important. Some deliberate thought on how best to optimize how and when the concurrent sessions are held so that participants can get to as many presentations as possible to make the best of their time would be a valuable way to improve the conference.  
  The following are relatively minor but would be improvements. Meeting rooms less spread out and therefore easier to find. Better "program" printed and electronic. SCHED was good but could have been better. Beverages at breaks. Upgrade meals if possible; perhaps a less expensive motel.  
  Provide a hard copy of the agenda. I did not stay at conference hotel and only had access to Internet for one day. I also like to use the program agenda as a way to plan and keep track of my learning. Have people at the main area that are interested in being helpful. I felt like I was in the way. Help folks to attend the field trips. I was very disappointed that all were full yet folks were crossing their names out. I expect to have some customer service. Provide flip charts and basic supplies. Expecting all presenters to pack or buy on site is inappropriate. I paid for basic services and received nothing. I had to buy my own food due to a diary allergy. The only protein for breakfast was yogurt and lunch proteins were doused in butter. Remove association name in name tag. Created division.  
  The only thing would be to have a few minutes between sessions to travel to the next sessions location  
  Conference was too crowded and didn't leave enough unstructured time. Concurrent sessions were back-to-back-to-back, left no time to go from one to another. Sessions were generally terrible: Death By Powerpoint seemed to be the operational theme of this meeting. It was like someone dragged me back to the educational pedagogy of the 1990s. If I had known it would be this bad, I would not have attended.  
  I would have a couple of large maps of the various classrooms at well-used intersections so people can make sure they know where they are going.  
  Workshops on Monday seemed slanted towards ANREP not many economic development offerings that day. Coffee should be served all morning. Opening reception was awful - too many people cramped in too little a space - couldn't even network - too loud to hear - or talk.  
  The  
  Nametags with states (not orgaanization!) coffee in the morning cost kept a lot of folks from attending  
  States on name tags, drink breaks w/ coffee/tea, bio's on speakers, more dynamic opening speaker - someone that is motivational, better flow for poster session setup (stuck back in corner land locked), drink tickets for reception, reception with more space (it was hot and crowded),  
  state, discipline, other information on name tag hotel was REALLY spread out had a difficult time with "seeing" all the choices with the online format, although I liked the reduction in paper with 300-400 attendees, three serving lines would have been better a little more time between some of the sessions for travel. Some started immediately after the prior one finished leaving no time for movement and sometimes that was quite a haul. Felt the posters were crammed in the dark back. Could they have been up longer and more prominently? Got very little feedback as we approached the conference I was selected for a poster and needed more feedback along the way. Wish we could have seen somewhere which pre-post and tours we were able to get in. Even if everyone got their first choice, we didn't know that until we got there. Is that possible on line? many things were done really well. Thank you for your efforts!  
  I wasn't able to attend some of the concurrent sessions since they were scheduled during the same time slot. Also, needed more transition time between sessions (5-10 minutes to walk). Lastly, I almost missed the tour bus since there was no announcement in the dining hall to indicate buses were loading.  
  Beautiful location! Great breakouts and tours. The tours were well organized and we traveled to some fun places to learn about Vermont. The challenges with this conference mainly involved site logistics - I'm sure you'll hear this a few time but running out of food, no coffee breaks, standing in the warm lobby on the first night trying to network with others were just unfortunate logistical items. We've all worked on conferences and the logistics of moving 400+ people around is just something we deal with. A very big challenge I had was the assumption that everyone had read everything about speaker bios before attending the general sessions. The speaker on Sunday night did not even get an introduction and I was disappointed by our Extension staff that did utilize good host etiquette. Just a little surprising due to the work with we with the public all of the time.  
  My only complaints were that the rooms were very far apart, so it was difficult to run from one session to another on time.  
  Difficult maneuvering through the Sheraton at first, but with some practice it got easier.  
  It was difficult to get from one side of the conference to the other. I understand that the intention was to choose a section and remain in the same room, but as a Community and economic development professional, that did not seem relevant. Also, I have chronic lyme and cannot eat gluten. The food needs to be labeled. I understand that food costs are high and it was disappointing to find myself unable to eat the food we included. Also, the farm to table dinner was not well organized. In my previous work, this was a mainstay of what I worked on. It was, I regret to say, the worst one I have attended. If that was provided for the conference, without your input, I would let the organizer know that it was inadequate. Not only was the food mediocre, worth $15 at most (unless there was some local - then $20), farm to table menus include labels EVERYWHERE that let you know the farm location and growing practice. I absolutely LOVE that you had the impulse toward this but encourage you to have someone familiar with this trend work through the details. A fellow attendee told me that a separate ticket for the event would have cost $70. As I noted, it was, at best, a $20 meal. And, regarding coffee... The hotel coffee available for purchase was terrible and overpriced - $5 and change medium Americano. And Starbucks - unacceptable! Burlington is full of amazing coffee roasters. Perhaps someone could be hired independent of the hotel next time. Also, perhaps coffee drinkers would be willing to pay an additional fee for coffee service. They could be given a band, or a punch card for a set number of coffees. I realize that this is extra work but it would keep the cost down for everyone else and meet the expectations for those attending your conference.  
  NACDEP and ANREP should meet separately. ANREP member needs were overlooked in the blending of this conference. In addition, many of the topics covered lacked practical application for the majority of extension professionals. Meaning that the overall feeling of the conference was similar to that of a research symposium. While science and research are most definitely an integral part of outreach work, conference attendees could benefit greatly from some application methodology at these meetings. I feel that we are loosing that mentality in our association by focusing on peer reviewed publications and grantsmanship. The vast majority of presentations only served to strengthen this premise.  
  For me, the best sessions were the ones that made a solid effort to connect the two program areas (CD and NR). This happened in many, but not all, of the sessions. I wish that that had happened more often.  
  I miss having a roster of attendees/contact info. provided to everyone. It could be electronic but that's a good networking thing. Having a hotel map on paper or on wall posters at the various key gathering points would be good. Especially for a sprawling venue like the Sheraton was. Sched was OK but having a paper, PDF conference program with all session titles, times, and locations in one document would have been very useful. If you got it out to people the week before, then they could print it themselves. So the conf. saves money and attendees aren't driven nuts by a software that they have to learn at the last moment.  
  Please have paper copies of the agenda. The website was so difficult to use on my phone. (And no to apps - I don't have space on my phone for another app). I spent much of my time in sessions looking to see what next session I would attend. Rarely do I have time ahead of a conference to plan every session I will attend. The website should have listed sessions by room. I had to scroll and scroll and scroll to find what was in the same room the next time. The way it was listed on the website gave the appearance that you could just get up and change sessions mid time frame. This may have been the intention, but it was kind of rude to presenters as there was no time built in to change mid stream. If website is used in the future, please also load hotel map. Finally, I know the schedule is packed but an 8 a.m. start time is a bit early, especially considering that people are from different time zones. I had to choose between sleeping, showering, eating or going outside (way too long inside hotel). An 8:30-9 a.m. start time would be a good idea to test in the future.  
  There has to be a way to get people out of their comfort zones. I regularly felt that if people didn't know you then they were unlikely to talk with you, which was very apparent by some "older" participants. Also, my suggestion is have these in more downtown areas rather than outside of town. There was some issues with the schedule too; my schedule said no breakfast on Monday, but breakfast was served. Also, have some sort of mid-morning snack available would have been good, such as nut bars or apples, etc. Thanks for not showering us with sugar drinks and cookies. I actually felt like I ate healthy at this conference rather than being pumped full of garbage.  
  The concurrent sessions were too tightly packed. The schedule did not allow for discussion after the presentation because I needed to leave in order to make the next session I wished to attend. My recommendation would be to include 45 minutes in the schedule, allow for a 30 minute presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A, then 5 minutes to get to the next room. This would have made these sessions even more beneficial, and even though it would have likely eliminated several presentations from taking place I could have learned about these topics during the Poster Session and would have been able to ask questions of the authors then. The hotel and conference center also left much to be desired. Although the conference planners could not help this, I had a room on the 3rd floor that had no elevator access so I was forced to drag my bags up 3 flights of stairs to get to my room. The way the hotel was laid out was very confusing. It took the first full day to figure out where everything was at. Something more centralized would be good in the future. On the final day of the conference I was to speak at 8:00am in the Shelburne Room. When I arrived to get my presentation loaded on the computer, the room door was closed and it appeared that the room had not been reserved and was being held for a meeting for "Flowers by Irene" at 9am. We were able to get the A/V equipment set up and ready, but it was a whirlwind and something that fell through the cracks.  
  Deliberate exercises to help those from ANREP and NACDEP mix. I felt that there were not many opportunities to network/break into each other's groups. It really felt as though two conferences were going on at the same time in the same space with little mixing. While people were courteous I do feel that there was a barrier there that kept people from getting to know one another's work. I think that more interactive activities could have helped break through that barrier.  
  I would have preferred to download and print a schedule with presentation titles and the room assignments before coming. Using the mobile app to find where I wanted to go was slow. Concurrent sessions that described a specific program were fine at 30 minutes. That time allowed presenters to give basic information and I can follow-up with them if I want more details. However, some concurrent sessions were more about concepts and ideas and those really needed more time to develop. Having some double sessions would have allowed for more depth on some topics.  
  Posters with schedule at a glance and facility map at strategic intersections. More structured, purposeful networking time. Possible roundtable or work sessions.  
  Larger hotel or section of rooms. I wasn't late registering and couldn't get a room at the center.  
  I've never attended a conference that put so much emphasis on judging and awards. Seemed to distract a bit from the feelings I normally associate with confernces - collaboration and the exchange of ideas.  
  For pre-conference, maybe have some local tours lasting for 4 to 6 hours. I didn't really feel like I had the opportunity to learn a lot about the area because of the schedule. I know we are there to learn but after traveling that far would really liked to have had the opportunity for a little more local learning. The 30 minutes sessions were very rushed and hard to get between locations before the next one started.  
  Few and longer concurrent sessions. Not much new shared. Not everyone that proposes a session should get a session. The 30 minute session format flat out sucked. Speakers sped through their info took two questions and were done. Attendees then had to locate sprint to the next info dump. Meeting facility not well laid out.  
  Having a limited number of printed agendas available  
  Allow 5 minutes between talks. Theme rooms and suggest to people that they stay in the room for all three. This could be a email ahead of time and have a discussion time, panel of all three at the end.  
  5 minutes between concurrent sessions.  
  Train moderators on exactly how to time the concurrent sessions so they all do it the same.  
  allow for better internet connections for presenters...really embarrassing  
  I greatly disliked the online schedule. I found it clunky and difficult to use. And it was missing a lot of information that I needed, such as descriptions of what was to take place at the plenary sessions. I almost didn't attend the Ignite Sessions, since there was no descriptive material I assumed it wasn't happening. And I disliked having to use my personal data plan to accomplish basic conference tasks. If you're going to save paper, at least provide a one-page conference schedule overview with a QR code that takes you to session descriptions.  
  I really struggled with the technology - had a hard time downloading the app and had a hard time making sense of the schedule either online or via the app. It was hard to piece together what all I wanted to do each day. Obviously I need a newer and better phone and probably some training. I guess if this experience helps me get up to speed on how the world communicates today, this will be a net positive in the long-term.  
  There really needs to be better opportunities for spouses. They were not considered for many of the open events/activities and felt unwelcomeed. There were lots of last minute changes in the schedules. This was confusing at times.  
  Some of the breakout sessions were fantastic. Some of them were mediocre. The online schedule had some issues--no information about plenary speakers or topic. An overview handout would have been nice just to know the general schedule. There were issues with the distribution of food--too few lines for 400 people. It would have been nice to have more variety for breakfast--the same exact food items, 3 days in a row. More gluten free options, too.  
  Add a stronger 'urban' component. Grouping the presentations thematically made sense, but marketing them separately in the Sched encouraged viewing them individually. Without transition time between the presentations, attendees were continually late to presentations. Also, there were many times when the three presentations did not really share a thematic core - an issue compounded by the lack of transition time between presentations. Please, please, please make sure the emcee of the awards ceremony (I am in NACDEP) rehearses his/her script and the pronunciation of awardee names, and has the ability to read them with grace and dignity. Not to do so is disrespectful to the awardees and painful for the audience to listen to as the emcee stammers through the evening. These are important awards and their presentation should be treated as such. Raise the bar, please.  
  Take note of popular presentations and offer expanded training, 1 - 3 hour sessions. My pref is to sacrifice a little breadth for some depth.  
  hotel services and layout of presentation rooms were poor. Conference schedule was confusing causing me to miss sessions I would have liked to attend. Hotel was poorly located and too far from downtown.  
  Serve coffee at breaks. Don't pack the schedule quite as tight, maybe longer concurrent sessions and then time to get from one to another?  
  Overall, I enjoyed the conference and got what I needed from the week. As an event organizer myself, I realize how tricky it can be to pull off these kinds of large-scale events and to make sure everyone is happy, and I think the overall event was a success. However, if you are asking how things may be improved, here is my experience and opinion: First, the organization of the event was somewhat loose: the session rooms were very far apart and it was difficult to move from one talk to another without missing the end of one talk or the beginning of another; there was little time in between sessions to transition from room to room; there were times when I had to miss sessions with similar topics because they coincided in different rooms; meal times had very long lines that could potentially have been split into smaller groups; I had a dietary restriction that was not always labeled on the food, so I often had to guess whether or not I could eat it, and catering staff was often hard to flag down with several hungry people behind me needing to move the line along; the 5K run overlapped with the pre-conference workshops, so I had to miss it although I really wanted to participate; I often had questions about overlapping scheduled events or where I was supposed to be for field trips or volunteering, but when I asked the registration desk there was rarely someone there that knew how to help me. Of course, I was able to navigate a lot of this and take care of myself when I needed, but it would have been nice to have had things run a little more smoothly. I was also a volunteer helper with the poster contest. I understand that we had a time crunch to review the many posters before the end of the evening, but I felt rushed to review each poster and properly judge it. I think we were only given a couple of minutes per poster, so I feel like I ended up rushing over the last few posters and not giving a fair assessment to all of them. In the end, the whole thing felt somewhat superficial and unfair- there were folks there with great projects, but with limited time it felt like we were all simply choosing the posters that looked the nicest and didn't necessarily have the best content. I wonder if there should be a poster contest at all (or at least the option to opt-out of the contest), as it seems like the goal is to be able to see what folks are working on in a social, low-pressure, and fun environment. Finally, I belong to ANREP and this was my first Extension conference, so I do not have anything to compare it to. It was very nice to meet people from NACDEP and learn about their programs, but I personally found little overlap with my programming. Furthermore, I found that the general sessions and plenary speakers had to speak so broadly to be relevant to both ANREP and NACDEP that the content was watered down and it was hard to glean anything specific from the talks. Maybe this is fairly normal for conferences to have speakers at general sessions that reach the broader aspects of Extension, and if so, I understand. If we are talking about my ideal conference, I would love to be energized and excited by the speakers/content of the general sessions, and I wonder if this would be more likely if the content was more focused towards one group instead of two.  
  There were fewer sessions that related to community development than natural resources, even tho there were more Nacdep attendees. Descriptions and titles could have been clearer on some. (E.g. session on building relationships with public officials only focused on promoting extension programs, not for stronger community outcomes, but the description was vague.)  
  I had made a list of various things to improve the conference. So, thank you for the opportunity to share those thoughts: - When doing a JOINT conference, make sure sessions are evenly divided each period between the TWO programming topics; there should NEVER be only two true (clearly focused) Community Development sessions when their are 10+ rooms being used at any given time. You have to be more careful about making both associations see the value in the professional development opportunity - As a NACDEP member, I felt under-served and like I was lacking options multiple times. - Thirty (30) Minute Sessions DO NOT work. Potentially strong sessions/topics were forced to squeeze a lot of information into a very small window and for many it made the presenter (and their topic) appear weak. Be more selective of the strongest topics and allow more time to present! - While I am of the "Technology" generation, I WANT paper copies of stuff. The schedule should be presented in a more program like manner (think book with title, time, location, and topic description). While I understand printing these materials costs money, make a PDF available for attendees to print prior to coming if they wish. I like something I can write on to record my thoughts, and the printed excel sheet was not nearly enough information to help anyone figure out the conference schedule. - First night NETWORKING is a MUST! I missed speed dating and karaoke on the first night. Yes, people will complain about it, but it really needs to happen on night one. These uncomfortable, weird activities are how people become more comfortable with the entire conference experience. - The awards NEED to be associated with a banquet. They feel less important (almost cheap) when done in the format used at this joint conference. - There has too be a way to empty out the schedule. It just seemed too busy this year. Other suggestions to improve the conference are hotel/conference center based (but need to be expressed): - A 7:00 a.m. breakfast will not work; if you are not doing this as part of a morning assembly, skip the breakfast in exchange for coffee and snacks throughout the day. - Assure the conference center is prepared for a group this size. There was never enough hors d'oeurves. Also, those tables need to be set-up in multiple locations (or with two sides) to avoid long lines. The food lines were ALWAYS (except during lunches) super long, and things could have been done to avoid that. - If you are serving box lunches one day (that almost always include a cold cut sandwich), DO NOT serve cold cuts the next day. Hotels have other options available. - Honestly, the location (not Burlington, but the Sheraton) was one of the greatest weaknesses of this conference (that and the lack of balance between the two programs - I felt like I was at an ANREP conference and I have no time to incorporate Natural Resource programming into my work).  
  The concurrent sessions plan was somewhat confusing as the theme for the (generally) 3 presentation session was unclear. The movement between sessions was challenging/confusing. I understand the logistical challenges with breadth and depth of what was being offered, especially with this being a joint conference, but perhaps there are some means of making the sessions more cohesive or the transitions less confusing.  
  Include more variety in breakfast meals, continental breakfast every day is not good. There needs to be some protein included.  
  better manner to select tracts. I was at a loss to have a game plan for the concurrent sessions. All were ultimately good but it was stressful making the selections on the fly  
  The location of the hotel was a challenge-- too far from downtown. Also, the conference was very scheduled-- not enough time for exploring or down time. What little time there was, the walk downtown was too far to take advantage. The 4-day conference is also a bit long. In terms of expense, a 2 night / 3 day conference would have saved on cost and allowed for a better hotel closer to the downtown area.  
  Sessions were too tightly scheduled to get them especially when you have to go from one end of building to the other. Timing indicated that many would be bringing family members but no activities were scheduled or even suggested for them during the conference. No refreshments - not even coffee - during conference was bad. And awards 'strolling" dinner was extremely bad. There was very little choices and my family member paid $70 for food she could not eat due to dietary restrictions. And we asked what the food would be before we purchased the ticket and got no information.  
  To not schedule similar sessions at the same time. To not schedule the same speaker in multiple sessions at the same time.  
  the lack of any time between sessions and then putting distance between locations of sessions was problematic. I hate being late! your awful time schedule made me late almost every time unless I just stayed there. I was following a climate change topic track that took me everywhere. super challenging and had to leave sessions during questions to make the next session in a timely fashion. putting the home state of the attendee on the name badge would have also been helpful. no consideration for partners traveling and no food tickets available but tons of left over food every day. Disappointing.  
  On last day, too many water/natural resource related talks going on at the same time in different rooms. As a presenter, it would have been nice to have more than 12 people at my session.  
  While I appreciate the large selection of concurrent sessions to choose from, I think it could be reduced a bit. I think some ran into "session fatigue". I was in several presentations with very low attendance. With 400+ people attending, I would have hoped for better attendance at the sessions. Perhaps swapping some concurrent sessions with some free networking time would have been helpful. I know people will seek out others to network with regardless but some built-in time in the day would have been helpful. It was difficult moving between sessions since the rooms were incredibly spread out. Always missed opening of sessions as I moved around. On the plus side, I thought speakers and moderators did a fantastic time staying on time. Everything I went to started prompted. I'm sure many will grumble about lack of coffee/snacks during the day but I didn't miss them....kept me from overeating!  
  I recommend not having a joint conference again; or, if you feel it is necessary, do it every few years, as a few days added onto the ANREP conference. Like, have a week-long conference where two days are ANREP one day is overlap and two days are NACDEP. That way, we can choose how to spend our time. There is so little time devoted to natural resources extension as is - I was not thrilled with how this conference was split. I think you did a great job given what you had, but I will not attend another joint conference. This year's conference was FAR less impactful than 2014 and 2012 due to the diluted applicability of the presentations to my programming.  
  Many (the majority?) of the sessions were dominated by abstract, "fluffy" topics that had no possible benefit to those of us actually doing extension work dealing with natural resources. I had some colleagues who were attending ANREP for the first time, partially on my recommendation, and I found myself apologizing for the quality and pertinence of the topics available. The joint conference was a good idea, but in practice it only limited the opportunities for each group to hear about things they could actually use.  
  More sessions on content - not on programs.  
  I like the idea of a digital schedule but took a little getting used to  
  The Sched app did not show tracks, so I made plans for what to attend based on interest. With no time to move between sessions (because the schedule had planned tracks but the app did not) I often had to leave early and arrive late to get where I wanted to be. It felt very disruptive.  
  Networking space and time. Too little, too cramped. Coffee :-) I did like the structured 30 minutes talks. Provided time for all to present during the session - and not one group "running over" on time and shortening the last speaker's presentation. Well managed. More consideration needed for scheduling. So many of the similar topics overlapped each other and made it hard to get to one's of interest...especially on Wednesday and the community development topics.  
  hotel accomodations and customer service on check in day seemed strained conference rooms were difficult to locate - a bit of a maze  
  Food service needs more lines/stations on several occasions (maybe hotel's fault, not yours, told them on their survey too). Don't skimp on coffee and breaks - basic coffee or soda in bulk shouldn't be a substantial cost. Sched app was annoying - I wanted a simple paper handout, no glossy cover, just cheap B&W schedule on a couple of pages. I printed one for myself but left it in my office and was frustrated. For example, I was in a session that was not good but couldn't just switch rooms easily like I could have with a paper schedule in hand. Did we skimp on coffee and paper handouts because the app cost too much? For a hotel that large, you have to build in time to switch rooms. Not OK to make Q&A time = room switching time. My session was in the Maple Room, aka Sales Office, aka not near any other sessions, and thank goodness I wasn't on the first day because the signs appeared later in the conference. Needed more directional signs the first day and more orientation to the hotel Sunday night. Several cases of very similar presentations against each other, seemed like they should have been together in a session, not competing for same audience.  
  It was great.  
  The hotel facility was very confusing and it made it difficult to connect with people - also I wasn't familiar with a lot of people attending - when I did connect with new people it was usually to ask them directions to rooms - not to find out who they were and what they did.  
  Opening session would suggest presidents of both associations address attendees together. Was hoping for more behind the scenes interaction during the mobile workshop.  
  Did not benefit from combining associations: felt that natural resource issues were underrepresented, especially in the plenaries. Although it was nice to interact with NACDEP, I would not attend another ANREP conference if this was repeated. I get a lot more interacting with ANREP alone.  
  1. Food logistics were terrible. No protein at breakfast. LONG lines. No beverages at breaks  
  Content and organization of the conference was excellent. Too many sessions with not enough time between. The presenters could not manage the 3 presentations in one time slot approach. However, Hotel was poor at best and layout was below acceptable. Conference center was terrible, will never visit again. Rooms should be all together and more flow between guest rooms and conference center.  
  The sessions I attended were good although very few seemed to attract members from both associations. This was a difficult conference to attend. It was expensive in general. Moreover, although Burlington was a delightful location, it was not easy to get to and travel was very costly. A number of people who normally attend did not attend this conference. Given the financial constraints the LGUs are experiencing, a number of members found the conference cost-prohibitive. The session schedule (the spread sheet) sent out electronically prior to the conference was difficult to use. Participants also found the electronic program (Sched) confusing and difficult to use for planning purposes.  
  Meeting with an organization we have more in common with would help (CDS?). Not seeming so cheap (water, coffee, etc.).  
  A twelve hour scheduled day was too long. Strongly dislike the no paper agenda.  
  Didn't care for food lines; seems there could have been a more expedient way to get food served. I would have attended the "first-time attendees" session, but after a long day of travel I really needed food and there was none in the room. I moved on to the reception. Coffee at breakfast only was fine, really! I appreciated that SCHED allowed us to avoid printing costs and wasted paper. As an app, it's bound to improve but it was fine for our purposes.  
  When concurrent sessions were grouped together in 90 minute blocks, it was unclear that they were themed and you should stay in one place for the full 90 minutes. It was really disappointing for presenters to have people leave early or come late so that they could cross the conference center to see other speakers in a different block. Or time needs to be added between each speaker.  
  More diverse breakfast Poster session was a bit cramped  
  Provide more time for folks to get from one talk to another. If you didn't stay in a session, you had no time to move to another talk (sometimes a great distance away). Lots of logistical issues described below.  
  Breakfast was very poor quality and too light Coffee and break service should be included through conference Please provide option to opt in for a printed paper conference program - attendees could be charged for the cost of printing if selecting the option Moderators and many session conveners did not have adequate introductory material to introduce the presenters - I wasn't sure if this was due to lack of printed material - not all of the bios were posted online.  
  Conference content was good. Venue was pretty terrible. Food was not great, and always running out, hotel was expensive but not good value for the cost (no fridge, slow help, etc). The only thing about the conference itself would be the lack of travel time during concurrent sessions, but this didn't bother me too much, since I recognized the attempt to cluster similar presentations. Also, I was bothered by the fact that my name never ended up on my presentation, in spite of the fact that I contacted ANREP prior to and during the conference. And the fact that the conference was paperless should have made it easy to update.  
  1. Needed time between sessions to get from one room to another 90 minute sessions should be in concurrent blocks 2. Poor planning for food service - food ran out for latecomers, lines were too long - needed more stations 3. Be sure there is adequate seating for meals 4. Coffee should be available for breaks. 5. NEED a paper option for the agenda. Sched was not easy to use, you can't get even all the concurrent sessions to fit on a screen, not all people have all the devices needed - I don't care if it is glossy. Double sided photocopies stapled together would be fine. it is unreasonable for 400+ folks to print everything at the hotel business center. 6. OR - be very clear that There is a print-friendly PDF that can be printed and brought along. Then have some extra copies available. 7. MUST have a paper for session chairs that includes names, affiliations and title of the talks - Yes, you could look it all up, but it wasn't easy 8. Had no idea who teh keynotes were or why I should listen to them.  
  At least 5 min break between sessions to move to other tracks  
  I felt like the concurrent session options were not diversified in each time slot. The first day there was a lot of ANREP sessions and the second day was more heavily NACDEP. I also missed the roundtables we did last year as part of NACDEP. I felt it was more difficult to connect with others in my area of expertise.  
  Again, there were fewer presentations than I would have liked this year that really applied to my programming - NR. Perhaps it was because of the shared agenda with NACDEP.  
  I prefer most conference sessions during the week since I guard weekends for personal time. I thought the mobile app was somewhat constraining and required a lot of scrolling and was difficult to use effectively. I was glad I had printed out the schedule of presentations. My experience with the hotel was mixed and it was certainly expensive. Don't cut out coffee/tea. I heard it was due to their coffee vendor in their gift shop, but I certainly hope not. Breakfasts were not very good, same limited stuff every day. Rather eat on per diem.  
  Coffee- and I don't even drink it all day like some! Breakfast was not balanced for those with gluten/grain free needs. I did not find the key note speakers to be that engaging.  
  Paper agendas, at least "At a Glance" type agendas. Employer or state affiliation on name tags; maybe even association affiliation. More helpful/friendly conference registration staff. Swag, a bag, binder, water bottle, materials about the city, local businesses, etc. More details on General Sessions; I didn't go to several because I know nothing about them and had other offers for that time. At least as much detail as concurrent sessions. I also missed the poster session all together. In the electronic agenda format it was really hard to see when that was happening and when it started and ended. Same for the silent auction. $450 is a large conference registration; I didn't like that some of the conference time was taking up with business meetings, etc. Do that in the morning or evening. Liked the idea of the field trip during the conference, but somehow didn't get registered for one. Liked the inspire presentations. Liked combining programming areas.  
  needed time between speakers to change rooms.  
  Breakout rooms were poor, temperature and setting Conference staff seemed to be overwhelmed As a workshop presenter, more should have been communicated to me  
  I did not care for the combined association conference. I have been a member of both associations precisely because they meet my different programming needs. There were time slots I could not find a session to attend that I felt dealt with community development issues. Way too much was focused on the type of work I did when I belonged to ANREP.  
  While the hotel was nice, it was not very accommodating for the conference. Having concurrent session rooms in opposite sides of the building and no real time in between to travel from one room to another made it difficult for sessions that were far away to attract participants. Also I attended at least one session where the moderator wasn't keeping exactly on time so I walked in while a talk was still being delivered but it should have already changed to the next talk in that session. I know you wanted to keep cost down but you really should have coffee at least during the afternoon sessions. This is common courtesy for people attending the conference. And breakfast should have included hot items (like eggs and sides) as well as pastries and fruit. Having only pastries and fruit is not a breakfast, that's a snack.  
  Burlington might be easy to fly into, but it was hard to drive to. The next conference should be easier to reach for folks driving to attend. The conference facility was hard to navigate in finding where sessions were held. I thought the "paperless" agenda was useless. I was out of the office immediately prior to the conference, and could not download and print the detailed agenda. The final agenda should be made available much sooner to attendees.  
  There was not enough transition time between talks so I was often leaving one early and getting to the next one late. Send the full schedule out to people who might not want to use the app. They can print it themselves. Some moderators were starting talks early so, again, I was getting to the talks late and didn't know which talk was happening when I got there. I also saw some moderators let talks go too long.  
  Overall this conference MANAGEMENT was below average - but the conference itself was very good. I believe the event manager, Kerrin, made some errors in judgement. For example: 1) we needed more space for the initial networking reception but she wanted to keep the dining room "clean" (overheard her say this!) so we were jammed into the hallway - very silly. We needed space. It would have been so much better networking if we could move around. 2) the first day's breakfast - impossible to get to the food because someone had not pulled the table out so that you could go on both sides. Again, silly. I did not go to breakfast the next day because I knew it would be too slow - not good. those were just two simple things. If you are doing an e-conference schedule, then let us know so that we come equipped with a paper copy OR equipment to use the e-tools. Have the schedule ready ahead of time so that the schedule is a non-issue when we are there. I decide what I want to attend before I get on the plane! Again, the management of the conference was sub-par.  
  While the conference was not as "well organized" as some I've attended, it was one of the conferences I have obtained the most useful information and resources that I will be putting to use to increase and improve education and outreach efforts related to specific issues programming. Thanks. The poster session was a disappointment. At any other conference I've attended, the posters remain up until near the end of the conference. I presented a poster and so was unable to view other posters. They had all been taken down before I had a chance to see them. I was not told (or could not find the information although I looked for it) when my poster had to be removed; hence, I found it in a corner on the floor after everything had been removed. This was fine but I wonder how many other people did not have a chance to view the posters more in-depth and gain from them.  
  I've been disappointed with the quality of NACDEP the last few meetings. 1) Sessions - I really think the organization needs to design tracks based on the different levels on which we operate in the field. I am essentially a state specialist. Listening to county educators talk about how they pulled together a stakeholder group and held a meeting is not of interest to me. However, that is of high interest to county-based educators. Meanwhile, they probably aren't going to find a ton of value of listening to me talk about a statewide program either. If I can't find value in the session, I'm going to start opting for other conferences. 2) Value - I'm really left wondering why I paid $450 for this conference. Was it to line up for EVERY single meal? (Really got old). Was it to have the facility run out food/plates/silverware the second I did get to the front of the line? Was it so I could have absolutely NO FOOD at breaks? No coffee, soda, cookies, etc. While I understand I work for a University (and therefore, I'm never getting the royal treatment), I do think conference fees should cover a minimum of one sit down meal and refreshments during breaks. 3) Programs - I need a printed program. I found it very confusing not knowing where I was going. It was also hard to moderate a session without a printed overview of who was supposed to be on hand. It isn't easy to fumble with your phone while you're trying to determine who's up next. If you are not going to have a printed agenda, YOU SHOULD AT A MINIMUM INFORM PEOPLE IN ADVANCE. I would gladly have printed one to bring along.  
  More time between concurrent sessions to make it to other conferences, and to network Similar concurrent session topics grouped together in one room, and grouped together on the schedule Coffee  
  No surprise....coffee and more time between concurrent sessions  
  ANREP is a very specific organization for a group of people that no other professional organization reaches. Because of this at conferences in the past I have felt as though I took so much away and was so excited to get home and get to work. This conference was so watered down to try to appeal to both groups I did not feel the same motivation and inspiration. I was very disappointed by that.  
  Paper copies of schedule and maps, better communication to participants about important information, more food stations  
  Contiguous meeting rooms. A downtown or location in close proximity to services.  
  Sessions were excellent. For such a large conference hall, the food continually ran out and people had to wait at all the buffet lines. the catering department did not seem well organized. Everyone wanted their state listed on the name tag in order to know where people were from. Coffee was needed for the majority. I am not a coffee drinker but heard it from many.  
  There was quite a distance for some of the breakouts and it seemed that I was always coming in late if I had a distance. Also transportation from overflow hotels to main hotel was a significant hassle for myself and a coworker since we didn't have a vehicle.  
  "Resilience" may have been too broad of a theme -- it was a reminder of how differently that term is used by different groups. I was hoping for more content specifically related to climate resilience.  
  Poster session was poorly laid out. Too many people in too small a space. Needs to be a way to encourage more interaction between attendees and poster presentors.  
  Opening reception in the hall was a useless activity - too crowded, too noisy. We should have been able to move into the larger room right behind us. Location was pretty spread out - not enough time between sessions to figure out where we needed to be for the next one. Must have coffee available. Redundant items for breakfast each day  
  I like that sessions were grouped together in the same room in a block but there didn't seem to be enough time to get through all the ideas and the questions that the topic raised. Sessions on the morning of the last day were poorly attended. Overall, there wasn't enough time between sessions to get to the next session.  
  Have written programs of sessions. It seemed as though the on-line program was not user friendly??? Maps to meeting rooms...after the 1st day you knew them...  
  Would have preferred the conference center to be in the downtown space.  
  The poster session day was VERY LONG!  
  The venue space was very poorly laid out. You cant have concurrent sessions run back to back when it takes at least 5 minuets to walk across the venue to listen to your next talk. the whole conference schedule was on a new platform/interface and difficult to navigate. letting folks know that the schedule would not have paper copies of schedule ahead of time to let them print and bring with them would have been useful. again, the venue was not great at all, it actually made it an unpleasant experience. nametags didnt have the right info on them. i didnt care what association you were with, but more interested in where the individual was from. needed more time to do networking that is scheduled as part of the conference, in smaller, similar minded groups. the evening events were nice, but too loud, too many people and too few good relationships were forged in that setting.  
  vary the breakfast choices  
  could not attend some of my first choice events as they were too many people in the room. Not a lot of time between talks, and the distance between rooms was often one on one side of conference center, the next one on the other side, with zero time scheduled for folks to get from place to place.  
  The concurrent sessions made it impossible for me to attend ones that was of interest to me. Because of the conflict of having several interesting sessions held at the same time restricted me to merely attending those sessions that directly applied to my scope of work.  
  invest more in technology so that presenters could deliver a more professional presentation  
  A shorter survey!  
  Some of the meals and break times seemed disorganized without enough food or beverages.  
  better coordination with the hotel where the conference is being held; my personal bank card was charged over $1200 for my stay at the hotel despite the fact that all travel and lodging costs had been paid for by my organization. I spent more time with the hotel manager and accountant resolving this issue than I did at the conference.  
  The concurrent sessions were too short and too closely packed. It was difficult to get from one to another in time and resulted in reduced attendance opportunities.  
  Needed more time to get from session to session  
  The scheduling program was incredibly difficult to use. It would not let me log in to create a custom schedule, and scrolling through all the pages each time I wanted to check the next event was frustrating. Perhaps a few printed schedules displayed on walls/in hallways would have helped. That way those of us who couldn't get the scheduling program to work (and there were many I spoke with who couldn't) could still quickly see the schedule without having to print hundreds of copies.  
  Printed conference agendas. While going green is commendable, it wasn't practical. The conference site didn't offer data service in all locations and the agenda format wasn't appropriate for smart phone viewing. Disappointed that the historic connection between Vermont's Justin Smith Morrill and the U of Vermont campus and this conference were not exploited! I would have loved to see the campus or hear about how Morrill shaped the university.  
  I was very disappointed with the support given to those who brought family members with them. I was on the planning committee and conversations indicated that this would be a family friendly conference. I was very surprised to see that if I wanted to bring my family on one of the afternoon tours I would have to pay the daily rate for each of them which was very expensive. I was originally resistant to the online conference program schedule- Sched, but in the end I liked it and think it should be used again. I really liked the poster session and cocktails.  
  Although the conference facility was adequate (meeting rooms were spacious, comfortable, well-prepared), the rooms were so spread out. It was hard to politely go from one room to another to bounce to various presentations due to the physical architecture of the building. It was also hard to catch up with people I wanted to network with.  
  See above comments and get rid of straight Powerpoints and go back to introducing new concepts and innovative ideas. There was not enought of that. This survey is way too long...  
  My main complaint was the way the scheduling was presented. It was very hard (for me) to plan my day and figure out the concurrent sessions using the App on my phone. That was very frustrating. All of the classes were listed in one list so to see where the time breaks were was extremely time consuming and hard to do.  
  avoid over air-conditioning!!!!!!!!!  
  The switch to online schedule only was jarring. The paper schedules were greatly missed by many, especially since the phone app wasn't as user-friendly as one would hope. To rely on that particular app, and go completely without schedules the same year was difficult to adjust to. Many people like to make notations on the paper schedules that the app doesn't allow you to do. Also, the layout of this conference center was extremely convoluted. The conference center where future sessions are held should be toured in advance to determine ease of layout and convenience for coming to and from the hotel room. Many of the attendees had trouble locating certain sessions because of the 3-way split of the batches of conference rooms.  
  The tightly scheduled session format was difficult for me. I found it hard to get from room to room without missing part of one session. Although sessions were grouped by topic on the paper schedule they were not on the app version.  
  The actual location was very poor. The breakout rooms were too far apart and not enough time to switch if you wanted to go to a room that was on the other side of the hotel. There was not a lot of common space or networking like at other ANREP conferences due to the horrible lay out of the event. Even the social activities suffered. An opportunity was missed for many in terms of seeing valuable abstracts and engaging in conversation, especially with those in the other association. It was a shame. ANREP is always a really great event for networking and learning, but the conference center really took that opportunity away. On the positive side- Burlington was great and the mobile workshops were awesome. I hope those stay as part of future conferences. I also really enjoyed the farm to table dinner.  
  Print a program booklet. Trying to navigate a complicated multi-day program on a cell phone was stupid. Allow travel time between presentations. Not doing this meant that either you missed Q&A from a presentation, or the front end of the next presentation. Either way, the movement of people was disruptive to both speakers and audiences. We are Extension professionals, we should KNOW how to set up a meeting. This was pure bush league and an embarrassment to us all.  
  More time between sessions to get from one to the other.  
  The break-out sessions, educational tours and locations were wonderful. I learned many new things and being in Burlington was great. The conference planner and logistics were terrible. We had some good keynote speakers, but they were not introduced professionally, so it left us wondering who they were and how they related to the conference. As Extension professionals we should know how to introduce speakers.  
  conference complex was confusing Not sure I like the 30 minute presentations within a longer time block in which people come and go and disrupt things.